Metabones enables 10 fps shooting with AF for Canon glass on Sony a9

If you were disappointed by reports that the Sony a9 struggles with long adapted Canon lenses, you might be able to take some comfort from Metabones' latest firmware update. The update for EF-E Smart Adapter Mark IV/V and EF-E Speed Booster Ultra adds autofocus support for medium and high burst modes on the Sony a9. However, since adapted lens support maxes out at 10 fps with AF, high burst mode simply runs at medium speeds (10 fps electronic, 5 fps mechanical).

We've have had a chance to give this update a go with a number of Canon mount lenses (including Sigma lenses), and are impressed with the results: with wider lenses (85mm and wider), you get phase-detect AF over most of the frame at 10 fps in Wide and Flexible Spot modes. With longer lenses (70-200/2.8, 100-400/4.5-5.6), focus starts to falter outside of the central region - something that doesn't happen with native E-mount lenses. In L drive mode (3 fps), the camera opens up the aperture in between shots - both for adapted and E-mount lenses, allowing the camera to continue focusing beyond F11 (at frame rates higher than 3 fps, the camera reverts to manual focus at apertures smaller than F11 - with both adapted and native lenses).

In manual focus mode, you can shoot up to 20 fps with adapted lenses. This is quite an impressive update for the Metabones adapter, and we've confirmed it to function significantly better with the a9 than the Sigma adapter (which has yet to issue a firmware update for the a9).

Benefits and improvements: - Added autofocus support during high speed and medium speed continuous drive (up to 10fps) on Sony A9 ("Green" mode only). Experiment with the "Priority Set in AF-C" setting for the best compromise between hit rate and frame rate for your shooting style. Overall performance depends on lens used. The camera does not use hunting while tracking is in operation. If subject movement exceeds the measurement range of the OSPDAF sensor, autofocus pauses. This is by design. The measurement range of the OSPDAF sensor decreases as the focal length increases. Except for the original Mark I Smart Adapter this feature is available for all subsequent Speed Boosters and Smart Adapters.- Enlarged PDAF area on supported cameras when adapter is in Advanced mode, with the advisory that AF performance may be unsatisfactory outside of the central portion of the frame.- Enabled AF illuminator (Advanced mode only).- There is an AF accuracy issue when using AF-S or DMF on Sony A9 and telephoto lenses with Metabones in "Advanced" mode, which affects this and all previous firmware versions. Green mode, which is set by default on Sony A9, is not affected (except for the original Smart Adapter Mark I, which does not support "Green" mode). A9 users are advised to not use "Advanced" mode but stick with the default "Green" mode. In addition, some telephoto lenses rarely exhibit this issue, such as EF 200/2.8L II USM, EF 400/5.6L USM and Tamron 150-600/5-6.3 VC USD A011. Investigation of this issue is still in progress.- Fixed AF issue with EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM and EF-S 18-135/3.5-5.6 IS Nano USM lenses.- Fixed smooth iris support for 40/2.8 STM, 50/1.8 STM and Sigma 50-100/1.8 DC HSM Art 016.- Fixed CN-E 18-80 T4.4 L IS KAS S servo zoom used by the camera's zoom rocker and the lens' rocker in alternation.- Fixed CN-E 18-80 T4.4 L IS KAS S auto iris when adapter is in Green mode, where extremely bright conditions no longer causes the iris to close completely. - Fixed aperture display with Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lens and Kenko Pro 300 teleconvertter.- Corrected W-T zoom scale display in "Advanced" mode for Speed Booster and Kenko Pro 300 teleconverter (except Mark I/II/III and original Speed Booster).- Faster aperture diaphragm for still photography in Advanced mode when Live Vide mode is set to Setting Effect OFF.- LED (if available) now shows solid magenta when adapter is connected to USB waiting for Metabones App to run.

I can report that this is a step in the right direction for the A7II.Was testing it last night with the Canon 50mm f1.4.The phase detect area is larger now but the reliability of the focus doesn't seem ideal.

10fps is still plenty for a lot of Canon shooters. Canon 1D MKIV does 10fps. 7D MKII does 10fps. Do you ever hear the users of these cameras crying, "I'm wasting the capabilities of my high costs Canon tele prime lenses because I am only shooting 10fps"?!?! Hahaha. 1D X does only slightly better, with 12fps. Nikon barely does any better. D4S does 11fps, D5 does 12fps. I don't think the users of any of these cameras thinks that the capabilities of their tele primes are being "wasted" with these cameras.

The 1dx2 can shoot 14 (PDAF) or 16 fps (LV) all with flash, 4k DCI @ 60p video / frame grab (with best in class DPAF), doesn't overheat, no rolling shutter in stills, fully weather sealed, reliable, backed up with a bunch of flawless long telephoto glass and exceptional support. The D5 is essentially the same minus 2 fps plus best in class AF. So yes, the A9 would be a waste in comparison.... but in spite of all problems the A9 shines with native lenses, and that's how it should be used. The only problem would be tremendous pain supporting 2 systems - buying same lenses, flash triggers, etc... had it in the past, but not anymore.

In the past, switching systems meant dumping all your existing gear because of system incompatibility. In spite of the cost, people have done it. Just google "switch to Canon" or "switch to Nikon". However, with Sony, the transition is made much easier and more economical because it doesn't require that you dump all your lenses. If you are a Canon user, you can adapt your lenses. This is a huge benefit, and one that has never been an option before. Plus, Canon and Nikon bodies are basically the same price. No cost advantage. That's not the case with Sony, because the A9 is $1500 to $2000 less expensive, while offering advancements such as IBIS, silent electronic shutter, zero blackout, etc. So if you look at the financials of "switching" (I'd actually call it transitioning), it's never been easier and more cost effective.

@Edmond Leung - But ultimately, it's really going to be about the future generation of photographers. Canon went from zero marketshare with EOS to dominating in the SLR market. And it didn't all come from getting Nikon users to switch. A lot of it came from grabbing the new generation of photogs who loved technology. Canon was at the forefront of new camera/lens technology back then. Older people just like Edmond Leung laughed at Canon and dismissed their chances back then. The older generation was really stuck on Nikon. But young people like me (at the time) switched from Nikon to Canon because we loved the newer technology that Canon offered. Today, I see many parallels with Sony today and Canon back then. Sony will grab a big chunk of the next generation of young photographers who aren't so set in their ways, aren't so close-minded, and aren't so stuck on the Canon and Nikon brand. Younger people always embrace change better than older people. That's how Canon rose to dominance.

@T3 Ahmmm 1500 to 2000 cheaper? In the Netherlands A9 with grip € 5688 vs 1DX II € 5999. And using it with native 70-200 2.8 GM glass add another € 2999 vs € 2097 for the Canon 2.8. And what will be the resale value of the A9 after say three years.

10fps is in E-Shutter. In regular mechanical shutter which most sports users will be using, it's 5fps. Somewhere around the t7i continuous speed.

For high speed movement shooting, rolling shutter shows its ugly side of distortion, and flicker under sport arena lights, and light banding, where mechanical shutter at 10fps such as a 7DII is much, much better.

However for a portrait shoot I'd gladly shoot with E-shutter. Then again, I don't need 10fps for portraits.

Everyone just read that shiny spec saying 20fps and couldn't care less about the disclaimers.

Jump to 6:30 in the video where they try to induce any rolling shutter effects.

Electronic shutter is the future of cameras. The A9's new sensor technology makes that a reality. As Rishi has said (earlier in these comments down below), "The mechanical shutter is on its way out, just FYI."

The A9's electronic shutter does exhibit rolling shutter, however it is much improved over every other electronic shutter (mainstream camera) so far.

Is it good enough though? Very nearly, but not in all situations. You can always fall back to mechanical shutter, but at 5fps it is a bit of kludge.

You can see examples of distortion from electronic shutter in Gordon Laing's review.

https://www.cameralabs.com/sony-alpha-a9-review/"As far as the rolling shutter is concerned, I ... found evidence of skewing on vertical lines, like fencing and signage... it’s also important to add I never noticed it in any of my actual real sports shots, including those where I panned to follow the subject... it could be a deal-breaker for your desired subjects or a non-issue."

Rolling shutter is a major problem in traditional E-shutters and video applications where severe distortions completely ruin the atmosphere of the scene. With the fast readout A9 sensor, the rolling shutter has been minimized so much, it is almost indistinguishable from inherent mechanical shutter induced rolling shutter. It is not up to the exact same level yet, and if you want to consider that a donwside then that's perfectly fine. But to call it a "dealbreaker" is silly unless you are involved solely in a very specific type of photography.

@tonywong - So far it looks like it's really hard to induce any supposed rolling shutter effects with the A9 sensor. And if it does appear, it's not so obvious or significant as to be a "deal killer." A Google image search of "A9 rolling shutter" doesn't bring up much. If it really were an issue with the A9, you'd expect the internet to be *plastered* with A9 rolling shutter examples. It looks like this is as bad as it gets (warped golf ball):http://admiringlight.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/memorial_warp.jpg

I don't think that's a deal killer at all, because the ball is moving hyper fast.

When you consider the trade-off to the occasional warped golf ball (if, in fact, it was caused by rolling shutter) is that he has 20 frames to choose from at that moment of extremely fast movement, I think that's a fair trade-off, not a "deal breaker".

I didn't write deal breaker, it is quoted from the reviewer himself. Just remember that rolling shutter can happen with fast movement and backgrounds too, so if you shoot action with high speed panning your verticals may look a bit tilted, which may not be very noticeable for most people.

Again, I said it was much improved and covers most situations but not all of them.

Any camera with a rolling shutter readout will exhibit rolling shutter skewing artefacts. The extent of that skew just varies from a sensor ti another. Until Global Shutter sensors are mainstream I personally won't use E shutter for anything but portraiture type photography under suitable light sources.

But it IS true that when sensors reach a readout speed of less that 10ms-ish like high end cinema cameras and the a9 the rolling shutter skew is only visible under very fast moving shooting and practically negligble at normal speeds. The Alexa/F65/Weapon sensors are mighty fast but when shooting fast moving fight sequences in hollywood they do use the mechanical shutter versions of these cameras which do exist at the top line versions.

Good question! Hard to quantitate. Let me see if I can try build a visualization. Preliminarily I'd say the Flexible Spot M mode and all of its immediate surroundings seem OK with most (even telephoto) lenses. Lot more testing to be done though.

Guys another update on Sony a9 testing with mb4 adapter and new firmware. What do you know. More surprises. Just came back from 90 minutes of takwando class that my 5 year old takes. The kids run around class in circles, do kicks, jumpConstantly moving direction and all kids wear similar uniforms and look similar. I brought 85L mark 1 and 24-105L. Surprise surprise. The 85L that was dead in the water with old firmware tracked like a champ in green mode at medium 10 fps!!!! I was shocked. I kept shooting and shooting thinking it must be some kind of mistake. On the other hand 24-105L the lens I had high hopes for, as it works without issues with a7r2, failed in continuous af mode with new firmware. It could not track my child in either green or advanced mode. So my results are opposite of what I thought they should have been. Lol.

I was about to confirm your positive experience with my A7R2 and MBiv updated with the Canon 85L II. Smartly moving AF with very little hesitation, back and forth with tracking in AF-C. Hit play to review the photos and then tapped the shutter to take another shot.

F-.-, great, MBiv crashed again and did not detect the lens anymore. Detach lens and reattach to redetect the lens. Definitely not a pro solution yet.

I didn't pay attention to that... Now I had a close look at my Nikon lenses... My latest E-type lens doesn't have that mechanical lever... my latest Sigma Art lens (85mm) doesn't have it either... My previous G-serie lenses do have the diaphragm lever... It seems that Nikon did wait a long time to go fully electronic...

good thing. but then again this is for what? to use a canon 400mm 2.8? that's a 10K USD beast , not gonna spend that kind of money to use it "adapted" at 10% of its potential LOL. just put a 55-210 and have fun, after all it's not like the A9 was about to shoot "sports" for reals, no? it's family "sports", and kids right? so....

No, it's for people who already own the "10K USD beast" (or any other Canon lenses they already own) and want to use them on Sony bodies. It gives users an added degree of flexibility and provides an easier transition between Canon and Sony.

In the past, switching from one brand to another meant dumping all of your existing gear due to total system incompatibility. In spite of that costly obstacle, many people have switched between brands (eg, switching from Canon to Nikon, or vice versa). There are plenty of examples all over the web. Even whole agencies have switched:

And yes, in all of these cases it meant dumping all their previous gear. It was an all-or-nothing proposition. But not anymore. Now we have these smart adapters, which make the transition much easier (at least for Canon users, until the same smart adapters come out for Nikon, too). If you have a "10K USB beast" such as the Canon 400/2.8L, you can still use it.

@oldfashioned - First of all, not all sports are shot with fast super telephotos. Secondly, the A9 is not just a sports camera. Thirdly, Sony telephoto primes are coming. Fourthly, Canon lenses can be adapted. All things considered, I don't think it's anything that you need to be so bent out of shape over. You need to calm down. Relax. You should step back and just let things play out. Look at all the energy you wasted in the last few days about the adapter being too slow. Then the next day, the adapter gets a firmware update that allows 10fps! Makes you look like a crazy reactionary fool. My point is that things are constantly evolving. You're chasing a moving train. Best to just step back and check back in a year or so to see where they are by then.

T3 LOL seen the paper clip? nice, uh? Im calm and relaxeddd. this is fun, buddy. can't ya see?and no, without the 400 2.8 you're not gonna go far in that biz. 'cause when the moment comes then what do you do? pack everything and go home filing a picture of your cat playing in da house instead?

@T3 - calm down? Perhaps you're also overreacting a wee bit. Yesterday the a9 couldn't use the long Canon glass. Today its a bit better but not stellar using Canon glass with an updated Metabones adapter firmware. It's a moving train which at some time will pull up to the Sony glass shop and there will be Sony glass. In the meantime its a sport-action camera without any long sport/action glass. Any camera can be used for anything but that's not what the a9 was promoted to be. Its too bad the adapter can't work as well as one would wish. I'd really like to get an a9 but it doesn't offer any advantage over the Canon gear if it doesn't have the long glass to work with it. I've talked to the Sony rep and I'll likely try the a9 with Canon glass and an updated Metabones adapter but if it won't do the 10 fps as well as native glass at 20 fps, I'm not convinced there is any incentive to shoot Sony a9.

@riknash - Keep in mind, 10fps is nothing to sneeze at. A $6500 D5 only does 12fps continuous. It'll certainly get you by until long glass arrives. But also keep in mind that not all sports photography is done with long glass. Sideline basketball photography is generally done with 24-70/2.8 and 70-200/2.8. Same with volleyball, boxing, etc.

The notion that you can't do any sports photography without long glass is a bit absurd and overblown. But having said that, the A9 certainly needs long glass. A 400mm is expected to arrive later this year.

I would be amazed if a signifiant number of people do migrate from canikon to Sony. I can see that the A9 is fairly amazing, but there is a who load of other factors that contribute to the photographic endeavour and you won't find them in the firmware. The high praise of Sony can obscure the fact that canon and nikon do make fine cameras. They are not so terrible that change is necessary or so advantageous that it is a commercial necessity.

@George1958 - True, a lot of people won't switch. But these Sony cameras are cameras for the new generation. People have the false impression that camera sales go exclusively to people who already have gear. That's certainly not the case. Canon went from zero market share when they introduced the EOS system back in 1987 to becoming the biggest SLR brand in the world, catching and surpassing Nikon. At the time, Nikon owned the pro market. EOS had zero of the pro market. Today, Canon holds the majority. They didn't get there by getting half of all Nikon users to switch! No, Canon tapped into the new generation of photographers. Most Nikon users just stuck with Nikon. Due to the cost of switching, only a minority of users are gained through switching.

But the beauty of the Sony system is that it doesn't require an all-out switch, since lenses can be adapted. I have a ton of Canon lenses I can now use on Sony bodies. That's why I still have both Canon and Sony.

T3 Sorry pal but I can't stay silent. I just can't. I see that you're "talking" about the D5? Seriously? I like your posts and usually you do make sense and show some experience but ..come on... do you have ANY idea of what a D5 on a 400 2.8 shooting football or soccer at night under stadium lights actually is? That's a H$LL of a camera, like the 1DxII. Those are the real thing, buddy. Imagine tracking a running player @400mm .. at night? are you doing that? you gotta trust your instincts and your camera, you can try to anticipate the shot but then it's on the camera/lens to deliver, and oh boy...D5 and 1DxII do deliver, So please don't talk about stuff that you clearly have no idea about it, come on.. I hate doling this and to you in particular because I do like your posts, but enough is enough and confusing fiction and toys with the reality of a (real) professional sport coverage is like living in a completely different and parallel universe.

Massive AF point coverage, with better low light sensitivity than the D5, not to mention the blazing fast speed. Wait until Sony comes out with their 400mm. Then these comparison videos will be done again, and again the results will be similar. On top of that, the A9 massively undercuts the price of the D5 by $2K.

Just watch the video. They aren't living in a parallel universe. They're shooting in the real world, and they aren't bringing any brand bias to the review. Paul Nelson, the other reviewer in the video, is a Nikon shooter.

Hey Rishi can you please comment on the liveview lowlight sensitivity of the A9 to the A7rII - is it about as sensitivie or cleaner like the A7sii which uses full sensor readout? This relates to the low light AF sensitivity which I would also be interested in. Thank you

Not by default - switch to "Advanced" mode for continuous video AF. (See online user manual.)Adaptation is for sure harder to use than native. The adapter would be in "Green" mode for AF-C focus tracking for still photo, and in "Advanced" mode for continuous video AF.

@cyberstudio - that's far too clunky for real-world use. It hunts and hunts (albeit rather visually dampened) and then finally settles. The noise itself means you need pro audio gear: it's not very user-friendly and not worthy of mention in my opinion.

Curious to hear opinions of actual photographers: are you suddenly using adapted canon lenses for video AF? if so, how? It doesn't work reliably enough for my neworn/toddler videography (compared to native lenses), but more than happy to proved otherwise.

@Rishi Clunky or not, at least it's there. You have no such luck with A-mount lenses on LA-EA3, or classic Four Thirds DSLR lenses (even the CDAF-optimized ones) on Micro Four Thirds camera. (Panasonic would so one-shot video AF, but not continuous video AF, with a classic DSLR Four Thirds lens. Again, an adapted EF lens on Panasonic would do continuous video AF.)Metabones warned of the AF motor noise issue on their web site. But recently, a number of Canon lenses emerged whose motors were quiet enough for the camera's internal mic. I regularly use the EF-S 10-18/4.5-5.6 STM and the EF-S 18-135/3.5-5.6 IS Nano USM on GH5 without worry about the internal mic picking up AF motor noise. As cropped lenses they are of not much interest on the A9, but I am sure Canon is constantly reducing AF motor noise, including the late mode full-frame lenses as well. They have to, in order to sell the likes of 77D/80D as consumer video cameras.

EA3 emulation is pretty much useless for video AF. Good native emulation is the key to video AF. The MC-11 offers PDAF (along with lens parameter corrections) across the entire frame. (To allow outer PDAF points to work with all lenses reliably, Metabones would have to carry optical profile information for all lenses. This is obviously something far easier for Sigma to do with their own lenses since they designed them. :) )

Sigma's native emulation is more complete than Metabones' (mostly due to the aforementioned profiling info) but it also seems buggier - the end result is most lenses do better on the MB.

Why? The electronic shutter has a shutter rate of 1/160s, barely a stop behind the mechanical shutter (1/300s). That means issues in only the rarest of circumstances. And, no, we haven't had a single instance of banding under artificial lighting. Only a tiny bit of rolling shutter in very fast pans.

I don't know why anyone would 'refuse to recognize an electronic shutter for stills'.

Depending on your type of photography with strobes, 1 stop faster x-sync is HUGE. The faster you can get the shutter, the longer you can resist resorting to inefficient methods such as HS, HSS or ND filters to kill ambient.

Bit harsh to refuse electronic shutters, but mechanical shutters still have their advantages.

Electronic shutter has been near perfect for a good 90% of my shooting since my days with the nikon V1. I'm kinda hoping we can get access to cameras a mix of electronic and leaf shutter, instead of the current mix of mechanical and electronic. A 1/1000 sync leaf shutter would definitely be an improvement over our current 1/125 - 1/250 sync mechanical shutters.

The vinyl analogy isn't perfect... There's a chance that amongst enthusiasts and audiophiles vinyl will actually outlast CDs, streaming and online downloads have all the same benefits as CDs plus added convenience, while vinyl rigs still do some things better than either.

I don't actually own a turntable btw (but I've heard really good vinyl setups), and I still buy CDs (mostly because until lossless is more commonplace I'd rather do my own rips for albums I really cherish), and I do agree the e-shutter is the future... It's just the analogy I take issue with. :P

Rishi...I dislike the electronic/digital world in general. I used to say "the only thing that should be digital is a watch", but even there analogue is preferred.

The digital world has it's uses - e.g. a surgeon hits a tricky procedure during an operation, he can then Skype/video call another surgeon for assistance, also sensor in car engines have made them so much more reliable now than they were during the 80s (anyone remember cars backfiring & breaking down all the time?? The AA & RAC were rather busy back then!!)Whilst digital camera's are marvels nowadays, I like the "feel" of the shutter firing, or an aperture ring, or manual focus. But because digital camera's are there it's hard to ignore them and go fully analogue...Things I'd leave out for stills are electronic shutters - ibis & ois - lcd screens & evf's (see if your pics are ok when you download to a device) & autofocus...

There are plenty of flaws in my thinking of course...I simply don't like where tech is taking us...

It was kinda "tongue in cheek" my comment regarding not recognizing electronic shutters...but I still dislike them.My Xpro2 has one and after an afternoon of playing around with it, I came to the conclusion that it's not for me...

@webber15 - You're definitely an outlier in this day and age. But given your dislike of electronic/digital, why shoot digital at all? Why are you even here? Why not just shoot film, and ignore all this news surrounding digital cameras? Then you'd get the "thrill" of hearing the film advance with every shutter click.

I personally love where tech is taking us. I do a lot of street and travel photography, and I hate the sound of a shutter. I don't find the need to advertise to the world that I'm taking a photo, which the sound of a shutter typically does. My next camera will definitely have a silent electronic shutter. That's high on my wish list.

Just want to clarify - Rishi meant the shutter travel speed, not the sync speed. Slow travel speed = rolling shutter. A mechanical shutter travels twice as fast than the A9's electronic pixel readout. The A9 doesn't offer any sync speed in the electronic mode, so it won't work with flash at all (needs to be switched into 5fps mechanical mode). So unless it will be some kind of workaround in the future, the mechanical shutter is here to stay for a while...

So...with all the information available now which is stoking the fires of hate...hackers have never had it so good (watch out when full autonomy hits the road)...human consumption - new smartphones every 2 years (as the one we have suddenly becomes unusable) - open your eyes...the world is falling apart at the seams and technology has caused a fair share of the worlds troubles...

That's a pretty pessimist view, it's also helped immensely and has even sparked revolutions against totalitarian regimes. But I guess if your view is stuck on "the good old days" then this is a pointless conversation.

sts2 - understood. In fact, it's rather unfortunate that the a9 doesn't fire a flash at all in electronic shutter mode, because it probably could up to at least 1/125s.

Next generation of this tech though - I would be surprised if Sony decided to forego the mechanical shutter entirely. Once that electronic shutter rate is up to mechanical speeds (just one more stop, maybe double the amount of parallel ADCs from 12 to 24), and there simply won't be a need for mechanical shutter save for in the rarest of situations. Though, I suppose 24 parallel ADCs during readout could lead to artifacts in some cases.

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